In the footsteps of David Balfour

Actor DAVID FITZGERALD is playing David Balfour in Perth Theatre & Mull Theatre’s joint touring production of Kidnapped. He has agreed to keep a diary of his travels in the path of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous hero for the Arts Journal.

Day One - Monday 6th October

I rose at 6.30am and met the cast at Perth Theatre at 8am. I had never seen my fellow actors and crew that early before, and they didn't look good. There was a strong wind blowing up from the east. We passed through Aberdeen. I was surprised how big it was, the chunky houses reminded me of chunky boots. The rest of my companions found this very amusing and asked if that meant a church steeple could be likened to a pair of stilettos. On the road we had to make a stop at John Davidson's (our composer/musician) Aunt Dolly's House at Ardallie to collect essential equipment - tray bakes.

We arrived at the Dalrymple Hall, Frazerburgh where we were having the opening night of the tour. The hall was up a storey round a staircase and as I looked out of the window I saw the next door church steeple. The clouds parted and the moon shone, it reminded me of the House of Shaws. The audience were plentiful and enjoyed the yarn. As we packed up to go the wind heightened and our set nearly took off. We took shelter in The Galleon, a friendly establishment serving fine ale. Tomorrow we travel to Inverurie....

This is my first day of touring ever – I  hope it gets easier!
 

Day Two - Inverurie, Town Hall. Tuesday 7th October

We got lost on our way from Fraserburgh to Inverurie. We were following Fleur (the company stage manager) in her vehicle and she went past the road to Aberdeen. The van is very uncomfortable.  My companions for the journey were Struan (assistant stage manager) and Beth (actor). Struan had made up some cds, so we sang along to random songs- Stevie Wonder and Sum 41. 

Inverurie is lovely. It is bigger than I thought. I had imagined it to be a tiny village. The Town Hall where we were playing was massive with a balcony which made it  quite ‘echo-ey’. It meant we had to push to make ourselves heard.  The audience were both very close (2 feet away) and very far away and full of kids. I am trying to find a balance between subtlety and big acting. Touring Kidnapped is very different to performing it at Perth Theatre.

Oh well, at least the place we were staying at had a cracking power shower – and a good shower makes a good man!
 

 Day Three- Elgin Town Hall, Wednesday 8th October.
 
On the way to Elgin, travelling with Struan, I vigorously air drummed to Bon Jovi, hurting my leg. The last couple of days have caught up and everyone is very tired. When we got to Elgin we all had a couple of hours off, most people slept except I couldn't and  I felt quite agitated. Elgin is a lovely place, a lot bigger than I thought. It has a big fountain and a shopping centre and a church thing. I haven't been to any of the places we are touring to except Bunessan.

The Town Hall is big and we played on the stage. We had a large audience (200). They loved it. We were called back for a second curtain call. The performance is getting stronger.
The wind was fierce and dangerous. My hair can't handle it, I need a hat. When we were getting the set in, I got trapped by a fire door, with a weird curved handle, that was blown shut. I have a cool scar. After the show we all went to the pub (we had sent scouts ahead). Later Struan and I  fed our faces at a Kebab shop.
 
The wind is more dangerous than it first appears!
 

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